How To Travel To The Middle East In First Class With Points From Australia

If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you should know by now that I travel to the Middle East ALOT. Why? because I love to fly the ME3 as they have some of the best premium products in the air and I love the country, it’s a very interesting and relaxing place as strange as that sounds.

I often get asked how you can I use points to travel to the Middle East and in this post, I’ll explain all the airlines/products that fly there and which points to use.

Emirate are pretty generous when it comes to releasing First Class award space, it also helps that they have 14 suites in the A380 and they operate to major Australian cities. The best way to find Emirates First Class award space is through Qantas Frequent Flyer.

Etihad

You should know by now, Etihad is hands down my favourite carrier. The experience onboard, especially in the A380 Apartments is truly incredible and it’ll be something you’ll want to do again, trust me – I’ve now done it 8 times. Etihad operates to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Perth and Brisbane don’t always have First. Sydney and Melbourne have 2 services daily, the afternoon service is with a 77W and the evening service is with the A380. So what are the best points to use?

American Airlines charge 100,000 points one-way

Asiana Club charge 110,000 points one-way

Etihad Guest charge 124,230 points one-way

Velocity Frequent Flyer charge 141,000 points one-way

Etihad A380 Apartments

You can enjoy an onboard chef prepared meal…

Onboard Chef Prepared Meal

You can also enjoy the luxury of closing suites, even on the older 777’s…

Etihad First Class seats are probably the second easiest to find out of all the airlines on this list. I’ve written a post about it here. Basically, Etihad release seats anywhere from 7 days out to 24 hours beforehand, to find seats the best program to use is Etihad Guest.

Qatar

I flew Qatar Airways First Class on the A380 earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed the flight. Qatar currently only has First Class on their A380’s and they currently operate to Sydney. However, from June 30th the Doha-based carrier will service Melbourne with the A380. So what points should you use for the flights?

American Airlines AAdvantage charge 100,000 points one-way

Qatar Airways Qmiles charge 105,000 points one-way

Qantas Frequent Flyer charge 152,000 points one-way

Qatar A380 First Class

You can sit at the beautiful onboard bar and consume as much Krug as you desire…

Qatar A380 Bar

Or relax in your plush and comfortable suite…

Qatar A380 First Class Seat 1A

Finding Qatar First Class availability is quite all over the place. The airline doesn’t release them in a pattern but I’ve found them often about a month or two out from departure. To find Qatar First Class awards, the best program to use is British Airways Executive Club.

Qantas

Funnily enough, I haven’t ever flown Qantas First Class but they also fly the A380 to Dubai. Qantas has a daily flight from both Sydney and Melbourne into Dubai. The suites aren’t fully enclosed but are angled to the window to provide privacy, another feature is the bed is apparently extremely comfortable for sleeping on and one of the best in the sky for sleeping. So what points should I use for Qantas First Class?

American Airlines AAdvantage charge 100,000 points one-way

Qantas Frequent Flyer charge 144,000 points one-way

While onboard you can sample some of Australia’s best Neil Perry inspired dishes…

Qantas First Class (Image – Qantas)

You can also relax and good a good night sleep with a very comfortable bed…

Qantas First Class (Image – Qantas)

The only downside to redeeming for Qantas First Class is that availability is extremely limited. I would recommend using a program like Expertflyer to seek for space and set alerts. The best way to search for space is either through the British Airways Executive Club program or through Qantas Frequent Flyer. I’d avoid searching for space on AAdvantage as they often show ‘phantom space’ which means it looks like there are seats free when they are not.

Hopefully, this guide will help you find out how to use points to travel in luxury to the Middle East, if you have any questions please feel free to comment.

Zac is a teen who has been obsessed with travel since the age of 2. Now flying 200,000+ miles per year and blogging about luxury travel. Points From The Pacific is a blog that posts about the latest airline news, insights, reviews and guides to help travellers use their points to travel in first and business class.